Fortunately, most dry skin results from environmental factors that can be wholly or partially controlled.
The most common causes of dry skin include:
- Weather. In general, your skin is driest in winter, when temperatures and humidity levels plummet.
- Central heating and air conditioning. Central air and heating, wood-burning stoves, space heaters and fireplaces all reduce humidity and dry your skin.
- Hot baths and showers. Frequent showering or bathing, especially if you like the water hot and your baths long, breaks down the lipid barriers in your skin. So does frequent swimming, particularly in heavily chlorinated pools.
- Harsh soaps and detergents. Many popular soaps and detergents strip lipids and water from your skin. Deodorant and antibacterial soaps are usually the most damaging, as are many shampoos, which dry out your scalp.
- Dry skin with ageing. The epidermis (outer layer of the skin) begins to thin, causing the junction with the dermis (inner layer) to flatten. There is increased water loss from the skin and a decrease of the sebaceous glands, which provides natural moisture to the skin. Your skin gets about 10% drier every decade.
Other, less common factors causing dry skin, including certain diseases and medications which can significantly alter the function and appearance of your skin.
These include:
- Psoriasis
- Thyroid disorders
- Alcohol, drugs and nicotine
- Dehydration
There are excellent treatments available to start repairing the skin’s barrier, restoring normal skin function and improving (and preventing) dry skin.
These include:
- Laser Genesis / Laser Toning / Laser Painting
- Injectable Bio-Stimulators and Bio-Remodelling treatments such as Sculptra, Profhilo, Skin Boosters and HArmonyCa
- HydraTouch Facials
- Mesoglow Facials
- PDT with skin repairing ingredients such as Peptides or Growth Factors
- Superficial needling with Dermapen, including skin repairing active ingredients
- Superficial RF Needling with Secret RF or Endymed Intensif – to encourage dermal restoration which will then normalise skin functioning
- Carboxytherapy
- Mesotherapy
- Transdermal Mesotherapy
- Superficial chemical peels with AHA’s
It is vital to maintain and continue skin restoration and barrier repair with excellent home care products. Please visit our online store to see the fantastic options available.
Skin Renewal Tips
- What can one do immediately to start improving the problem of dry skin?
- Switch to a light cleansing cream rather than a soap which strips the skin of its natural oils.
- Always apply moisturiser immediately after facial cleansing to allow maximum absorption and to immediately create a protective barrier that prevents water loss from the skin.
- Moisturisers which provide a seal over your skin to keep water from escaping.
- If your skin is extremely dry, you may want to apply a good nourishing oil, while your skin is still moist. Oil has more staying power than moisturisers do and prevents the evaporation of water from the surface of your skin.
- The following is a list of skin care ingredients to AVOID due to their skin drying nature: alcohol if it is listed among first seven ingredients, cleansers that foam vigorously and fragrance.
